Lockdown protesters defy police as Australia coronavirus cases ease

[rooster59]

Lockdown protesters defy police as Australia coronavirus cases ease

By Sonali Paul

 

FILE PHOTO: A staff member is seen inside the Epping Gardens Aged Care Facility amid the second wave of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Melbourne, Australia, August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Sandra Sanders

 

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Protesters against a COVID-19 lockdown defied police in Australia's hotspot on Saturday, prompting 15 arrests, even as the state of Victoria continued its gradual improvement in stemming new cases due to the nearly five weeks of restrictions.

 

Around 200 protesters in the state capital Melbourne rallied with chants of "freedom" and "human rights matter", surrounded by swarms of police.

 

One of the arrests was for assaulting police, while others were arrested or fined for breaching health restrictions, Victoria police said in a statement.

 

"It is not safe, it is not smart, it is not lawful. In fact, it is absolutely selfish for people to be out there protesting," state Premier Daniel Andrews told a news conference.

 

Victoria reported 76 new COVID-19 infections and 11 deaths on Saturday. Andrews is due to outline plans on Sunday for easing Melbourne's stage 4 restrictions, which shut large parts of the economy, required everyone to stay home except for essential business and imposed a nighttime curfew.

 

There were two rallies in Sydney and one in Byron Bay in the state of New South Wales, which also breached local restrictions against large gatherings.

 

Outside Victoria, Australia reported five new coronavirus infections in New South Wales, one in Queensland and one in South Australia.

 

Over the past two months, infections in the country have more than tripled to 26,207, with Victoria making up around 75% of the total. Australia's deaths from COVID-19 have surged over that period to 748 from 104, with Victoria making up 90%.

 

"These stark figures show us the serious impact of the second wave of COVID-19 in Victoria," Australia's deputy chief medical officer, Michael Kidd, told reporters.

 

Victoria's new cases were below 100 most days this week, down from a peak of 725 new infections on Aug. 5, but remain higher than health officials had hoped five weeks into a six-week hard lockdown.

 

"The tail of the second wave is a stubborn thing," Andrews said.

 

Australia's government and businesses have urged Victoria, which makes up about a quarter of the nation's economy, to lift the restrictions as the country has sunk into its first recession since 1991.

 

Andrews said he would take a "steady and safe" approach out of the lockdown.

 

"This is a health problem in the first instance and until you fix the health problem, there can be no economic repair," he said.

 

In neighbouring New Zealand, a former prime minister of the Cook Islands, Joseph Williams, died of COVID-19. His was the second coronavirus-related death in the country in two days, following an outbreak in the country's largest city, Auckland, taking the country's total to 24 deaths.

 

(Reporting by Sonali Paul; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and William Mallard)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-09-05

 

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[tribalfusion001]

Good for them, protest more.

[Chomper Higgot]

Careful with that defying police thing.

[MajarTheLion]

I'm going to take a wild guess and say the Australian people were also fed huge steaming piles of you-know-what by their government. And even if they weren't, you can only lock up people for so long, deprive them of their livelihoods and manifest a cure worse than the disease before people begin resisting and rising up. We're seeing this in many countries. People have had enough. Life must go on.

[tribalfusion001]

5 minutes ago, MajarTheLion said:

I'm going to take a wild guess and say the Australian people were also fed huge steaming piles of you-know-what by their government. And even if they weren't, you can only lock up people for so long, deprive them of their livelihoods and manifest a cure worse than the disease before people begin resisting and rising up. We're seeing this in many countries. People have had enough. Life must go on.

Protests in Rome and Zagreb on Saturday for anti masks and anti social distancing, the ball is off and rolling, this needs to end.

[chilli42]

15 hours ago, rooster59 said:

"This is a health problem in the first instance and until you fix the health problem, there can be no economic repair," he said.

This is first a political problem then a health problem.  

[chilli42]

5 hours ago, MajarTheLion said:

I'm going to take a wild guess and say the Australian people were also fed huge steaming piles of you-know-what by their government. And even if they weren't, you can only lock up people for so long, deprive them of their livelihoods and manifest a cure worse than the disease before people begin resisting and rising up. We're seeing this in many countries. People have had enough. Life must go on.

... and there is nothing the government can do about any of this if people just refuse to follow the (flawed) program.  Good on them standing up to the government.

[steelepulse]

If lockdowns actually worked, then Peru with the hardest of lockdowns, would be a shining example,  they're not.

[UncleMhee]

Aussies have slept walked into authoritarianism. The legislation is already done and dusted; enforced vaccinations in WA, removal of children in SA and, arrests and confiscation of devices in Victoria. It's time to rise up because, it's way too late to wake up.

 

https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/australias-move-towards-authoritarianism-under-the-guise-of-public-health/

 

 

 

Edited September 6, 2020 by UncleMhee

[G Rex]

Organisers of these protests expected 10 to 20 thousand demonstrators - so 200 protesters was an insipid response! 

The Covid19 response in this country is amazing to watch. It would seem to most people that the State & Federal governments are using it as an excuse for their own agendas.  Queensland & Western Australia have effectively cut themselves off from the rest of the country.   Meanwhile in Victoria, where we are now,  things are very quiet. We are entering our 6th week of curfew. Despite living in regional Victoria (300 km from Melbourne) we are still subject to strong restrictions (but we do not have the 8pm to 5am curfew that the city of Melbourne has) - and this is despite us having 0 cases in our (very large) area for over 3 months!  Yes - people are dying in Australia from/with Corona virus - but most are in aged care, and now we are not told the age of the daily morbidities as it is increasingly obvious that most deaths occur in the over 70s.

In our increasingly litigious society our leaders are busy trying to safe face, because any rapid repeal of current restrictions will result in an avalanche of legal responses in an attempt to gain financial compensation for loss of liberty or commercial losses. The Government cannot turn around and say ‘we were wrong’ or ‘maybe we overestimated the potential threat here’.

The initial response here was to “flatten the curve” - so as not to overwhelm the (already robust) health system - but has now evolved into ‘elimination’.  

So the charade continues.........

The truth is no longer the driver here. 

[simple1]

59 minutes ago, steelepulse said:

If lockdowns actually worked, then Peru with the hardest of lockdowns, would be a shining example,  they're not.

 

 

 

 

The primary reason the lockdown in MLB 'didn't work' was a very flawed implementation of quarantine protocols by hired private security guards with zero training on the requirements and oversight. The issue has been resolved with new infections dropping from a peak of about 750 a day, now down to approx 60+ a day within 2/3 weeks and continuing the downward trend. Prior to the serious breach of quarantine, Australia had a good handle of the situation, only 105 deaths, There were some others who have breached Covid mitigation protocols, including some criminals, which has led to some other clusters' interstate, but again getting back under control.

'

People preaching others to ignore mitigation efforts only achieve prolonging the pain for the people, IMO they should be jailed until a vaccine is available, that would shut the dick@#$%^ up.

Edited September 6, 2020 by simple1

[jaiyen]

I am glad to be in Perth where our border closure is ensuring the health of us all. About 95% of WA residents support the border closure and what McGowan is doing. On another note, the Australian drug supply has been seriously affected and prices have skyrocketed. I wonder how many of the illegal protesters are druggies ?

[natway09]

The posters on here who have recommended a "just ignore" comment & "just open everything up"

should really back up their so called knowledge of contagious viruses with some credentiols 

or stop spreading dangerous stories

[thaibeachlovers]

On 9/6/2020 at 4:00 PM, car720 said:

and if they have their way then death will go on as well.

Everyone dies, or did you think we have a right to live forever?

Death can come in a thousand ways and no man knows when or how it comes for them. It's good to live each day as if it was our last.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 9/6/2020 at 6:22 PM, simple1 said:

The primary reason the lockdown in MLB 'didn't work' was a very flawed implementation of quarantine protocols by hired private security guards with zero training on the requirements and oversight. The issue has been resolved with new infections dropping from a peak of about 750 a day, now down to approx 60+ a day within 2/3 weeks and continuing the downward trend. Prior to the serious breach of quarantine, Australia had a good handle of the situation, only 105 deaths, There were some others who have breached Covid mitigation protocols, including some criminals, which has led to some other clusters' interstate, but again getting back under control.

'

People preaching others to ignore mitigation efforts only achieve prolonging the pain for the people, IMO they should be jailed until a vaccine is available, that would shut the dick@#$%^ up.

Sure. Not only are they borrowing money their grandchildren will be still paying off, but add prison to the cost by all means- it's only money after all.

Don't know about Oz, but NZ jails are pretty full, far as I know, so where are they going to put everyone? Perhaps they'll let all the real crims out to put protestors in.

Personally, jail might be better than where I'm living now. They seem to eat better than I can afford anyway.

 

 

Edited September 10, 2020 by thaibeachlovers

[Nout]

On 9/6/2020 at 11:00 AM, car720 said:

and if they have their way then death will go on as well.

Death is always with us.

[Scott]

Inflammatory post removed. 

 

[simple1]

8 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Sure. Not only are they borrowing money their grandchildren will be still paying off, but add prison to the cost by all means- it's only money after all.

Don't know about Oz, but NZ jails are pretty full, far as I know, so where are they going to put everyone? Perhaps they'll let all the real crims out to put protestors in.

Personally, jail might be better than where I'm living now. They seem to eat better than I can afford anyway.

 

 

There would be very few jailed for ignoring Covid mitigation requirements, as they are given repeated warnings, really just the antigovernment fanatics trying to gain attention who are exposed.

 

I presume you're living off NZ govt pension, same as Oz, living at the poverty line if your superannuation is spent.

[Bluetongue]

Australians are in for a lot of prolonged pain. of course the lockdown is a stuff up but they cant now admit it, having fkd the economy and scared the daylights out of people. The advice all along should have been protect the vulnerable, social distance, test and trace, effectively isolate the infected, wear a mask. Australia in particular Victoria did only one of those things. Having gone so far with the lockdown now, of course it must be kept going, there is no choice. For a start more than half the public are conditioned to the lockdown as the correct response given its partial success in the first place. The fairly hostile responses on this topic from pro lockdowners are evidence of that.

[Fat is a type of crazy]

 

The lockdown is working .. cases today down to low thirties and country Victoria will have rules relaxed significantly in a couple of days. 

Whether the cure is worse that the disease is a different thing.  I am careful about judging others and their views who have lost so much.

There's a case that they went to far, but there's a good case that it worked well in New Zealand, and the rest of Australia. Victoria just stuffed up the quarantine and the Australian Government seemed to stuff it up with regulating  nursing homes.

A number of the protesters appear to be dingus trying to get attention.  That may be unfair but the ones I have seen interviewed, and one of the leaders, believed in a whole raft of, what seem to me, ridiculous conspiracy theories. Lazy ideas and lazy thinking. Whether that is the majority of the protester's I cannot say.

It would just be good in my opinion if some of those against  the lockdown didn't  resort to bizarre conspiracy theories to make their case. If they just waited a bit longer to see that , for better or worse, lockdown will be over and we can do our thing.